British cyclist Mark Cavendish believes that it is wrong for people to judge today's professional riders following the Lance Armstrong doping scandal.

The 41-year-old American cyclist was stripped of his record seven Tour de France titles by the International Cycling Union after the United States Anti-Doping Agency reported heavy evidence of Armstrong using performance enhancing drugs between 1999 and 2005.

"If this negativity had come to cycling 10 years ago I would accept it, but the negativity is coming to cycling now because of what happened years ago and that's not right," Cavendish told The Times. "It's not fair to paint everyone with the same brush."

Meanwhile, Team Sky, whom Cavendish has left to ride for Omega Pharma-Quick Step, parted ways with director Sean Yates, who announced his retirement today.